NFC East title is fine, but these are the Dallas Cowboys. It’s always Super Bowl or bust
The Dallas Cowboys opened the season as a team in transition coming to a crossroad.
The retirement of tight end Jason Witten and the release of receiver Dez Bryant had turned the leadership and power in the locker room over to quarterback Dak Prescott and running back Ezekiel Elliott, the new budding stars entering their third seasons in NFL.
But this was not to be a patient growing process, as the future of coach Jason Garrett was not promised after seven seasons and just one playoff win.
And when the Cowboys began 3-5, the seat not only became scorching under Garrett but Prescott’s long-term viability was heavily scrutinized.
Alas, Dallas rebounded to win seven of its final eight games to finish 10-6 and secure Garrett’s second NFC East title in three seasons.
But division titles are not the goal in Dallas. They never have been.
And more is certainly wanted, even demanded of a Cowboys team that has just three playoff wins since its last Super Bowl title in 1995.
Garrett hasn’t been given a Super Bowl-or-bust edict, but as the team heads into Saturday’s wild-card game against the Seattle Seahawks (10-6), another one-and-done won’t be satisfactory either.
Owner Jerry Jones is admittedly anxious for a win against the Seahawks and a long playoff run, which he believes is possible for a Cowboys team entering the postseason as hot as any team in the league.
“I want it for everything we stand for,” Jones said. “I want it for these players. Obviously, we want it for our fans. I think that what we have put together, I wouldn’t want a re-do. If we started at training camp, I wouldn’t want a re-do. I’ll take the bad with the good and I’ll take right here, right now. I think we’ve managed to step in here, and I think, frankly, we are razor sharp. Now, we have a different set of circumstances in this playoff game. I wouldn’t, in any way, ask for any more to be ready for the playoffs.”
The Cowboys are certainly confident and riding some momentum after playing their best football in the second half of the season. They say they are different than the team that lost to Seattle, 24-13, in September because of the addition of receiver Amari Cooper in a bye-week trade with the Oakland Raiders.
“We’re feeling great,” said Elliott, who led the league in rushing with 1,434 yards and expects to carry a bigger load in the playoffs. “I believe we have the best defense in football and a pretty damn good offense, a lot of weapons. I think we have the right recipe to make some noise.”
More importantly, they are focused on making the most of this opportunity. They are the youngest team in playoffs but they know tomorrow is not promised.
“Look around the league and see guys who have never won a Super Bowl and some guys have been to the playoffs once and played a long time,” defensive tackle Tyrone Crawford said to reporters this week. “Obviously when you get there it’s definitely something you have to capitalize on and hopefully we get that done. That’s something that we’re trying to stress to the guys is that this is not easy to do in the NFL, so we’re trying to make the best out of it and get to our main goal.”
Said defensive end DeMarcus Lawrence: “That’s what it’s all about. We say we want to be champions so we have to live up to our expectations. [Being] champions is all about your mindset. Everybody in this locker room has the same mindset of being a championship team, not just a champion on their own.
“I preach to the defense all the time that those first 16 games? They were battles. Now, this is a war. You have countless battles over and over in order to get to your war. This is our war.”
Prescott is the new five-star general who is leading them into battle.
He is playing his best football of the season and going into the playoffs as confident as ever after missing the postseason last year.
“We are living in the moment,” Prescott said. “Don’t know what happened last year. Don’t care what happened last year. It’s about right now. It’s about making the most of this opportunity. And that is being the best that I can and make sure the team is the best they can every day to give ourselves the best opportunity come Saturday.”
